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TORONTO, Feb. 11 /CNW/ - Two student teams from Northview Heights
Secondary School in North York and a team from Danforth Collegiate and
Technical Institute beat out 16 other Toronto-area high school teams to win,
place and show in a unique skills competition, hosted by the Canadian
International AutoShow, that tested students' automotive technical knowledge.
Kevin Birchall and Eric Salb performed a number of timed technical tasks
and attempted to start a 2009 Volkswagen New Beetle Convertible that had been
rigged with a no-start condition by automotive instructors from Centennial
College. By finishing first, the pair will be representing Canada at the
National Automotive Technology Competition in New York City in April.
In addition to the all-expenses-paid trip, Birchall and Salb collected a
trophy and equipment from sponsors. Northview Heights was also represented by
Brandon Muff and Vali Ion, who finished second. Toronto's Danforth Tech
finished third, thanks to the efforts of students Jordan Ho and Tauriq Shaikh.
Both schools are big winners, too. Their auto tech classes will take
delivery of a General Motors vehicle, which will be used for technical
training. General Motors of Canada donated two brand-new vehicles as prizes.
This was the 10th year for the contest, organized by Centennial College,
which promotes automotive technology as a rewarding career path. Last year's
winners, Janos Mann and Julien Predas from Central Technical School, went on
to beat all of the American schools at the New York competition and took home
$250,000 in prizes and scholarship money.
The Toronto skills contest enjoys outstanding support from the industry.
Sponsors include: TADA, the Canadian International AutoShow, General Motors
Canada, Volkswagen Canada, Snap-On/Sun Tools, Consulab, Canadian Tire, Ryder
Truck, Thomson Nelson, Pearson Education, AutoKnowledge, TecMate, PartSource
and Centennial College.